Presidents Report

What I Learned Building an Inventory Planning Tool With AI

I recently had an opportunity to work on an inventory planning improvement project where I was able to take many sources of disparate data in an unorganized fashion and leverage AI to create a very insightful weekly ending-inventory projection tool that helped to drive prioritization around production and stocking.  It literally brought the organization 30 years forward in capability over the space of 1 week.

I thought the process was very interesting.  I spent about 2 hours creating a training manual (prompts) for how to do the work and use the data I wanted the AI tool to use.  I then provided the instructions, datasets, and asked the AI tool to ask me questions along the way, and to explain its thought process.

It took about 10 iterations of prompting, checking work, then clarifying instructions and datasets before we arrived at a useful tool, and I would say the AI tool did about 90% of the work and I built-in the rest after final data/result validation.

The real value extended beyond the analysis itself. What previously required hours of spreadsheet manipulation and data reconciliation could now be completed through natural language prompts. We were able to test scenarios, compare allocation strategies, evaluate the impact of production changes, and continuously refine planning assumptions without hours of laborious Excel work (which I actually like, but don’t have time for).

This example demonstrates an important lesson for organizations: AI does not replace Planners. Instead, it amplifies their effectiveness by accelerating analysis, surfacing risks earlier, and converting data into decisions.  The Planner is critical to knowing the process and skill well enough to create the vision and provide effective prompting and data.

My final takeaway: It was fun!  I loved creating the vision and the instructions and having someone else crunch the number, over and over.  It was also fun to present a cool tool to the organization’s leadership and watch their reactions as they experienced a solution to a gap they haven’t been able to solve for over a decade.

My advice to you all: Embrace!  Play, practice, and iterate.  See what you can do.  Much like paints or pastels, AI is the medium by which we will create for business and beyond.  You bring the creativity and vision, you swipe the brush (prompt), and AI does the painting.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, I used CoPilot for this activity, but Claude remains my (currently) favorite AI tool. 

See you soon,

Emily LeVasseur
President, ASCM Twin Cities Chapter